At the end of last summer, Conor Teal saw a need in the community, and he put his brain to work to fill it. Off of Sykes Mountain Avenue heading into downtown White River Junction, on the corner of Walsh Avenue, kids in the Chambers Village mobile home park wait every day for the school bus to pick them up in the morning.

Teal, who works at COVER Home Repair & Store in White River Junction as the volunteer coordinator and assistant crew leader, noticed their predicament on his morning commute to work: “Adding a space for them to stay dry as they started their school day felt necessary to do,” he said. So, as an independent service project at the end of his AmeriCorps service term in August, Teal set to work to find a solution.

First, Teal asked the park owner, Toby DeBattiste, for his approval of the idea. DeBattiste was interested from the start, and he “gave me free rein to do what needed to be arranged to make it work out,” Teal said. Then, Teal checked in with the Town of Hartford to check on the feasibility of building a bus shelter in that area. “I have to give special credit to the Hartford planning department,” Teal said, “in particular, Jo-Ann Ells, for guiding me through the requirements, gathering and sending documents, and connecting me to appropriate resources and other staff.”

At first, Teal was gearing up to build the structure himself, with the help of tools and materials in the shop at COVER, but, after news of his planned project circulated within the community, Adams Carroll of Advance Transit recommended an already-built bus shelter at Yestermorrow Design School in Waitsfield, VT. “They had one built through AARP funding, but had to cancel its installation due to a siting issue,” Teal explained. “I told my idea to their executive director, Britton Rogers, who supported moving it to Chambers Park.”

Now that the shelter had been secured, all Teal had to do was arrange its pick-up and delivery, which he achieved with the help of Carriage Shed in White River Junction, and Advance Transit, who helped cover the transportation costs. “It was a smooth delivery process and placement,” Teal said. “The shelter is a striking complement to the neighborhood and a promotion of artistic design that White River Junction continues to represent.”

Since it was installed, the bus shelter has been a welcome addition to the park. Rebecca O’Connell, who has three kids, said, “It’s been a game changer.” Kathryne Severance, another Chambers Village resident and a student of COVER’s “Construction 101” course, said it’s been great to be able to wait with her child for the bus and not have to worry about standing outside in the elements. “It’s just tough to start your day in the cold or the rain,” she said.

One of Teal’s personal goals is to help make public spaces more available to people, and the bus shelter project has been a perfect example of that. “I’m glad the kids are making use of it, and really, it can become a great public hub for the residents,” he said. Besides serving as cover for those waiting to be picked up by transportation, it’s also become a place of socialization, play, and community. Since its placement, Teal has ‘modded’ the bus shelter with an indoor bench and a metal ramp donated by COVER, making it wheelchair accessible. The creativity doesn’t end there – “All kinds of additions could be made,” Teal said. A trash receptacle is next on the list, as the kids are keen to respect their new sanctuary and keep it clean. Next – Garden boxes? Chess table? The sky’s the limit.

In the fall, I was lucky enough to visit and work alongside Teal and residents of the community to install an entry step for easier access to the bus shelter. I got to see a truly inspiring display of community as parents and children worked together to help – leveling the step, holding it still to screw in, even problem solving as one helper came to the rescue with some scrap pieces of wood, and of course, testing it out to make sure it was in good working order.

At the end of the day, Teal proves that one good deed goes a long way, sparking positive change and bringing people together in the pursuit of a common goal for the greater good. So roll up your sleeves and find a need, lend a hand. You never know what might happen!

To read more about COVER Home Repair & Store’s mission and volunteer coordinator Conor Teal’s work there, check out the “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” article on pages 6-7.

Harry Gorman has had a hand in the story of Vermont Spirits since its beginnings in 2004, when Duncan Holiday, the founder of the Quechee-based craft distillery, expressed interest in starting the company. Together, they put an idea into motion, and today, it’s a legacy that sticks with the company on their newest journey: turning one of the Upper Valley’s oldest commercial buildings into Harry’s Cocktail Lounge, named after Gorman himself.

Up until devoting his time and crafting abilities into distilling at Vermont Spirits, Gorman was a carpenter specializing in restoring old properties and the plumbing inside of them. In 1988, Gorman had built a house in his neighborhood in Barnet, Vermont for Holiday, and they had become friends during their time as neighbors. In 2000, Holiday introduced the idea of opening the distillery to Gorman, who was in Ireland working on a project at the time, but expressed his potential interest. Later that summer, they decided on a timeline that would work for both of them, with a goal of opening Vermont Spirits to the public in 2004.

Harry Gorman, at the bar in Harry’s Cocktail Lounge.

Gorman initially helped by building the distillery in Barnet, but Holiday wanted to involve him more in the business, and Gorman agreed. Gorman started out as an apprentice, then became a distiller, and throughout the years, went on to be an operations manager and is now the company’s master distiller. In addition to his distilling skills, his carpentry and plumbing skills still come in handy to maintain the mechanical aspects of the distillery. Gorman says, “My role is doing lots of different things, keeping the mechanicals operating, and working because I put them all there, so I know how they work and how to maintain them. I try to take the load off the other distiller as much as possible.” Gorman is also a board member of the company and the company is owned by many investors, including himself, and his job as a board member is to represent shareholders to the board.

With Gorman having been with the company from the start, he has also seen the vast and important changes it’s gone through over the past twenty years. Holiday stepped down from his position in 2008, and a new CEO, Steve Johnson, took over until 2018. “Companies change and the people who run them change,” says Gorman. “For the continued growth and expansion of the company, we chose a new CEO [in 2018], Randy Carlson, and a management group to help run us and build our company into something bigger. In the last five years it’s grown a lot.”

The company makes spirits derived entirely from maple sap and wild juniper, and other ingredients special to Vermont. “They are a one of a kind thing in the world,” says Gorman. Vermont Spirits is currently distributed in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, sold at boutique distributors across the U.S., and available online.

Vermont Spirits was originally headquartered in Barnet and eventually moved to Quechee in 2009 because of a law that had changed, allowing them to sell products from a tasting room housed in the distillery itself. The original Barnet location was tucked away and hard for customers to access in the winter and during mud season, and Quechee allowed them to have more foot traffic and expand their customer base. The company has been successful in expanding their business with Harry’s Cocktail Lounge in September, right next door to the distillery in Quechee Gorge Village. Since Gorman has been with the company from the beginning, the Vermont Spirits team thought it was only appropriate to name the lounge after him.

The plank house, now the home of Harry’s Cocktail Lounge, was built around 1790 and is believed to be the oldest commercial building in Windsor County. Over the years, it’s been a trading post, a family home, and a retail outlet. “We’ve watched it over the years and have always thought it would be great to have it a part of our complex,” says Gorman. With Gorman’s background in carpentry and building restoration, he led the project of bringing new life to the plank house as it became Harry’s Lounge. The walls are made up of wood planks that are three-inch thick boards and anywhere from 10 inches wide to 25 inches wide, all exposed in the lounge and bar area. Gorman also created an outside deck connecting the two buildings for outdoor enjoyment for customers in the warmer months. “When you go into Harry’s Cocktail Lounge, you’re sitting in a piece of history. It’s a really amazing old Vermont building and our products represent

Gorman hopes the lounge will allow tourists and locals to embrace what Vermont has to offer, he says. “We get a lot of tourists, which is really important to us, but we also love having the local people come in and talk to us and having Harry’s Cocktail Lounge will only help that happen.”

“Food Vision” Prize Partners with Local Quechee Business and Supports Local Growers

Vital Communities, the non-profit organization working to cultivate the civic, environmental, and economic vitality of the Upper Valley and engage Upper Valley people, organizations, and communities to create equitable solutions to our region’s challenges, was recently awarded a $200,000 New England Food Vision Prize for a multi-partner project.

This prize will enable the development of a regional farm ingredient-sourcing supply channel that will help create broader markets for the region’s food growers, especially farmers from the BIPOC and immigrant communities.

The central partner in this project is our own Quechee-based Global Village Foods, an African-inspired prepared food producer. Global Village Foods will now have the means to produce meals at a large scale for institutions, starting with University of Vermont, with food grown in New Hampshire and Vermont.

“We’re super excited because we have always tried to source our ingredients locally,” said Mel Hall, owner of Global Village Foods with his wife, Damaris, “As we begin to rebound from the pandemic, this grant enables us to grow from a small regional specialty brand to having national potential and to carry those local growers with us and offer them a guaranteed revenue stream.”

“[GVF owners] Mel and Damaris Hall have produced thousands of nutritious meals for our community and have been expanding their commitment to source more Vermont farm ingredients for their meals. The Food Vision Prize will allow for that vision to become a reality, which will positively impact our producers, especially BIPOC growers,” said Nancy LaRowe, Vital Communities Director of Food & Farm and Economy.

The Food Vision prize allows Global Village Foods to purchase food processing equipment and hire additional employees to process raw farm products into cleaned, sorted, and cut ingredients like those produced by large-scale international food processors. This will enable Global Village Foods to buy from farms across New England and sell regionally and nationally.

This project will support the significant growth that Global Village Foods anticipates for their allergy-friendly, culturally relevant, ready-to-eat meals into institutional food service channels and beyond.

“We’re poised to become the next nationally known Vermont brand, like Ben and Jerry’s,” Hall said.

[Top photo by Wangene Hall.]

According to local historians, and probably not surprisingly, the identity of Quechee has been closely linked to the 41.4-mile long Ottauquechee River that winds through the small hamlet of just over 600 residents and has carved out of the landscape changes in topography as a tributary of the Connecticut River that flows to the Long Island Sound.

Although the course of the river has directed the intentional placement of residential, industrial and commercial buildings, the backbone of the district is Quechee Main Street that extends in an east-west direction, parallel and to the north of the Ottauquechee River.

The Strong House circa 1815

In total, the district is comprised of 73 properties. Most are set close to the road in small lots and are residential in nature. The majority are one to two stories, housing single-families, as they were in the 18th and 19th centuries when millworkers comprised the majority of the population.

Here, in Part I of this series, we will provide an anecdotal history of how these 21st century homes came to be and some of the stories that gave each the character that makes it unique today.

To begin, the road that veers off in a westerly direction from U.S. Route 4 by the Fat Hat Factory was originally known as Shallis Hill Road and later became the Clubhouse Road, so named because of the Trout Club that sat behind the current gray house at the corner of Hard Road. The Club was owned by A.G. Dewey who settled in the Quechee area around 1836, establishing a woolen mill.

“It was a popular spot for members of the Lakota Club in Barnard to stop on the way back from Dartmouth football games, drop a line in the small pond to the rear of the house and party down,” David Barrell recalled. “Most Quechee Lakes Landowner members assumed that the name Clubhouse Road emanated from the fact that the Quechee Club was several miles down the road. However, it bore that name before real estate investor L. John Davidson transformed the valley.”

Front view of Marshland Farms circa 1900. Courtesy of the Hartford Historical Society

Through the years, however, the Trout Club became a residence and fell into disrepair becoming an unsightly entrance to the Quechee community.

In 1989, local residents Barrell and business partner Charles Jameson bought the property and began renovations as well as putting up the three-unit Millbrook condos on the adjacent property. Recently, the single residence has had a garage with cupula added.

“The old eyesore is difficult to envision today,” said Barrell. ”We literally had to chase rats out of the basement before restoration began. I remember that Charlie was having drinks with some friends the evening that we made the deal and announced what we were doing. ‘Oh my gosh,’ exclaimed one of Quechee’s grand dames, that’s where I lost my virginity!’”

At the top of the hill is the Fat Hat corner that Joan Eckert, formerly of South Royalton and Quechee, founded in the early 1980s as a retail and production site for her new line of hats and ladies wear.

“The corner now also houses Chef Brad’s Crazy Side eatery with all of its funkiness and great vittles,” Barrell said.

Down the road is the Strong House Spa in the Federal-style brick building at the corner of Quechee Main Street and Dewey’s Mill Road that once housed the Cevas Skiwear Company founded by Fred Andressen,and then a financial services firm owned by Amy Leavitt. “Sheila Armen and Shelly Yusko added a large event building to the Strong House Spa property that enhances the approach to downtown Quechee,” said Barrell.

Armen and Yusko purchased the 200-year-old Jedediah Strong House in 1994, renovating the main building and adding an adjacent farmhouse studio to establish a massage clinic and teaching facility for therapists to teach classes in movement and advanced training.

According to historians, the House was built in 1815 by a local mill owner. Strong had purchased the land in the same year. He was a descendant of one of Hartford’s earliest settlers, was a prominent local landowner who operated a successful sawmill and gristmill nearby.

A few hundred yards from the Strong House is the The Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm Built in 1793, the inn was originally the home of Colonel Joseph Marsh IV, Vermont’s first lieutenant governor. Originally from Connecticut, Marsh arrived in Quechee in 1772 and the next year built the Georgian-style house opposite the Ottauquechee River, known as the Baronial Mansion. The self-sufficient farm housed Marsh, his wife, Dorothy Mason Marsh, and their twelve children.

The farm was eventually left to one of his grandsons, Daniel. Over the next 100+ years, the property transferred to many hands including Charles Dempster Marsh, the great-great-great grandson of Colonel Joseph Marsh. In 1959, the Army Corps of Engineers condemned the property that they felt would be negatively impacted by the impending Hartland Dam Project. The landowners were given the option of buying back their homes at a nominal fee or moving the structure to higher ground. The house was moved 90 feet west of its original location and 15 feet north of it. The cow barn and icehouse were destroyed and the horse barn was carried and attached to the section of the cow barn (now the innkeeper’s living quarters).

Then, in 1968, Massachusetts real estate developer L. John Davidson purchased the farm, consisting of approximately 400 acres. The house became the first of many Quechee Lakes Corporation office locations throughout the village. In 1970, Davidson converted a portion of the barn into a stable for the use of the QLC landowners. By 1975, and to meet the demand for overnight accommodations, the Corporation converted the farmhouse into a 17-room inn. Mike and Barbara Yaroshuk, a Washington, D.C. attorney for a major Indian tribe, bought the inn in the late 1970s.

“Mike was responsible for bringing the Balloon Festival to Quechee and was very active in golf and tennis until his untimely death in his mid ’40s,” said Barrell.

The inn now includes 22 guest rooms, three suites, a dining restaurant, and common area for various social functions. The Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm opened officially with a gala celebration on March 31, 1975. Over 200 guests attended the reception, including the great-great-great granddaughter of Colonel Joseph Marsh.

Davidson had come to Vermont with a vision, to build a vacation resort while maintaining the historical past. The Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm fit perfectly into his concept.

In Part II of The Changing Face of Quechee Main Street, after continuing down Quechee Main Street from the Quechee Covered Bridge and, figuratively speaking, visiting some more homes along the way, we will learn how Davidson’s vision materialized.

Strolling around the woods, contemplating my life as older people are inclined to do, hoping not to get lost in my own backyard, I asked myself, “Self, what talent would you have liked to have had which you are lacking?” It soon began to grow dark as the list grew longer and longer. I made my way home before Kim called the police but, you know something, I believe that the talent I lack most in my make-up is the ability to competently play a musical instrument. I’d also like to be much better at math, but music intrigues me more because I still naively think I have a chance at it: like golf.

Trust me, I’ve tried playing different instruments. For instance, when we were children, my parents had a baby-grand piano in their living room. I’m not sure why, since neither one of them played anything. Perhaps the piano was a symbol of hope, or maybe wealth. I hope that the four children might grow up with a sense of class, or an illusion that we were affluent and were modestly hiding the fact.

Anyway, we were given lessons by an old lady in an even older house in Ambler, PA. I remember that both the woman and the house smelled like camphor, as though moth balls had been stored inside of the piano or in her pockets. Although she tried her best, I could not be coerced into playing a single song or remembering a note. For me, it was all rote memory as I tried to do the notes in the correct sequence. I felt nothing.

That was how my mind worked and that is not music at all. “Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” I would say after almost immediately messing up a simple piano piece. She would get angry and say that she was “tired of waiting a minute. Go home and practice.”

Then she kicked me out of the smelly house, and I would sit on her brick stoop killing ants until my mother picked me up. The old lady had a recital one time in the parlor of her house. I remember it was stifling hot: August and no air conditioning. I played (or attempted to play) Big Chief Wahoo. This is a piece for simpletons and consists of three basic chords played in the manner of an Indian war drum, i.e. lots of pounding. It seemed to suit me but, upon sitting down, I immediately forgot everything and spent the next two minutes ad-libbing something much more complex. It was very embarrassing for all. I took a bow but my parents continued to sweat.

My younger brother, Eric, has that grand piano now. He doesn’t read or understand music, but he plays “by ear,” feeling the notes and making them come alive. It is truly beautiful, and many of his compositions come from somewhere inside of himself. I wish I were like that with a banjo.

Anyway, in high school, I went to the famous Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco during the rollicking hippie days. I came home with strings of love beads and traded them for a guitar from a stoned-out friend. I got a good deal but, alas, the instrument was not magical or blessed by groovy fairy dust as I had hoped. After weeks of practice, I only managed to play a few chords of Michael Row the Boat Ashore (a big hit back then). Hallelujah! I soon quit the guitar.

Nordic adventures — on snowshoes or cross country skis — are a wonderful, invigorating way to explore and fully appreciate the great outdoors during winter in Quechee.

In the words of one smiling skier, “It is so picturesque with the water flowing and only the sounds of nature can be heard. The setting is spectacular: the connection to nature, the quality of trails, the experience of fueling your soul and heart with great Vermont fresh air.”

A couple of intrepid snowshoers negotiate the abundant fresh
powder on the golf course after a recent storm.

The Quechee Club manages miles of trails on the dormant golf course, groomed for both skate and classic skiing; a couple of trails meander along the shores of Lake Pinneo. All are easily accessible from and close to the comfort of the club house where you can warm up and relax after a day on the snow. For a more ambitious outing, there’s an extensive network of trails in the Section 5 Wilderness area (Map at quecheeclub.com).

Rental gear (classic skis or snowshoes) is available at Henderson’s at the base lodge (802-295-1515), and nordic lessons may be arranged through the Quechee Lakes Ski School (802-295-3929).

The Wilderness Trails behind the Quechee Inn also offers Nordic activities, with a network of groomed trails, rental equipment, and lessons (802-295-7620). You could  wrap up your adventure with a meal at the Inn’s restaurant, or just linger with a drink in front of their wonderful fireplace.

Topher Bordreau getting in his first ski of the season on the
perfectly groomed nordic trails alongside the ice-covered Lake
Pinneo. “The trails are perfect for a quick ski before dinner at
the lodge, or – even better – at night with a headlamp,” he said.
“Something about the combination of the sound of the river rushing by,
the snow reflecting the light of the lamp, and the often bitter cold that
is undeniably invigorating. And any time of day, it’s always nice to
reconnect with neighbors out there, too!”

And last but not least, there’s a well groomed loop on the Green, right by the post office – it doesn’t get more convenient than that. Wherever you choose to go, it’s a treat to spend winter in a place where the stark beauty of a Vermont winter is made so easily accessible – you really owe it to yourself to take advantage of it.

There is a new gem hidden in the surrounding hills and hollows of the Upper Valley. The Grange Theatre in Pomfret, Vermont, formerly the Teago Grange Hall, is the newest branch of the ArtisTree Community Arts Center. The theatre’s first season wrapped up in late October. Maybe you were lucky enough to see The Little Mermaid or get a seat for the sold-out Patsy Cline. If you’ve been to a show already, you were probably impressed before it even started. The old grange still looks like a well-maintained meeting hall where over the years countless couples married and community dinners were served. Now you step inside the building to find yourself in a thoroughly modern stage theatre.

Actors from New York perform in Godspell

I met with Theatre Director Chris Flockton for a tour. The outside of the building is stark white and simple, with the dramatic, wide backdrop of the Vermont countryside and hills, including a view of the Suicide Six Ski Area. The foyer includes some historic pieces of the grange and an original small office space serving as the ticket booth. The main stage is small with a rear interior space and an upper level. It’s not too far from the stage that the rows of chairs begin. The 85 to 100 seats are comfy and classic red, but also removable. The original windows are still in place but have been equipped with automatic, remote controlled blackout shades. Chris tells me that foam insulation was put in the walls to keep the noise from neighbors and passerbys. Thoughtful touches like these were used in the interest of preserving the old grange as much as possible. Architect George Turner and Wright Construction helped to restore a grange hall and create a modern theatre all within the same space. The broader idea behind the preservation is that the community can still use the building for events and gathering.

Chris is happy to report that the first running season of 2017 has been successful. The season consisted of four back-to-back shows. The first was The Little Mermaid as performed by Upper Valley kids aged seven through 18 who attended a theatre camp before showtime. The musical Patsy Cline played a few sold out shows. Actors were hired in New York and given the opportunity to stay locally in Pomfret while rehearsing. The play Godspell came next with 10 actors from New York City and a six-piece band. Another musical, The Marvelous Wonderettes, will wrapped up the season.

Grange Theatre

During the “off-season,” November through May, the theatre’s focus will shift to community-based projects. A holiday show, open mikes, and short act plays are in the works and sign up sheets are available for anyone interested. Chris is emphatic that anyone can call him if they have interest in any aspect of theatre work. There will also be official classes such as intro to acting, improv, and a Shakespeare intensive. Chris anticipates classes in which students of all ages can shadow a professional through the entire production of a play from casting to curtain drop.

The ultimate goals of the theatre include using the space year-round with high-quality productions summer through fall and community-based projects in the winter. Hiring, teaching, and involving Upper Valley community members is important to the mission, as well as keeping the theatre accessible: theatre tickets have not been higher than $25 a seat. All proceeds cycle back into the theatre program and the non-profit ArtisTree.

What Chris brings in experience is worth noting, his acting resume is diverse and lengthy, including soap operas (Guiding Light), voice-overs (The Fabulous Life), and some movie acting (Boondock Saints). Chris is also well-versed in teaching young children and has conducted outreach programs such as “Shakespeare in the Schools,” managing to teach 40 eighth-graders A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Chris moved to Vermont six years ago with his wife and a son who currently attend the Upper Valley Waldorf School in Quechee.

The set of Godspell was colorful and had a life of its own

The surrounding towns and communities have just been made all the richer with this addition to the ArtistTree Community Arts Center. Those who gain the most are Upper Valley theatre fans and local kids who have an interest in theatre. There are also the countless kids and adults who will discover their love for theatre in the seasons to come. The Grange already has that magical theatre feeling, and it has only just begun.

If Brad Pirkey isn’t a familiar face or name to you around the Hartford/Quechee area, maybe you recognize his brightly colored food bus. Chef Brad’s CrazySide has been around the area since 2012, and it’s hard to miss. Most recently you’ve probably noticed the colorful addition to Fat Hat Corner where Quechee Main Street meets Route 4. Chef Brad’s bus has moved into the corner, and it sounds like the CrazySide may have found a home.

Pirkey grew up in the Woodstock and Killington, Vermont, areas graduating from Woodstock High in 1980 where he claims his only ‘A’ was for a quiche cooked up for French class. Talking with him it sounds like his evolution into a chef was natural, and easily led him to become a restaurateur. He was given the lead in kitchens since he was a kid starting at places like Rumbleseat Rathskeller in Woodstock and Cindy’s Pizza. After high school and a bit of travel, Brad attended Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts in Providence, Rhode Island.

Pirkey owned The Corners Inn in Bridgewater for 15 years (called Z Corners Inn by new owners since 2011). The Corners Inn was a success for him, but eventually, he needed a hiatus. Pirkey put the restaurant on the market, and set about driving his VW bus around the perimeter of the country for nearly a year picking up cooking jobs here and there along the way – he even rented an ice cream sandwich shop in Palm Coast, Florida for a time. Eventually, The Corners Inn sold, and he got homesick for Vermont and came back in 2012.

Combining his restaurant experience with his travel experience, Pirkey started a food truck. First obtaining an old BBQ cart, he looked to start up in Bridgewater again. He spied the perfect spot on Route 100a and realized it was at the Maple Leaf Farm. The owners of Maple Leaf told Pirkey that the family had always thought selling hot dogs and hamburgers alongside their farm stand would be a fun addition. The situation was perfect for everyone involved: Pirkey moved onto the land and did farm chores for 20 hours a week while keeping the original Chef Brad’s CrazySide up and running. A plague of bad luck ended the fortunate scenario. In 2014, the first CrazySide was destroyed in an accident, and Pirkey left the farm to attend his ailing mother.

Later that same year, longtime friends helped Pirkey obtain an old camper and motivated him to set up the CrazySide again on Route 12 just before Hartland Hill Road in Hartland, VT. This version of CrazySide lasted two summers. You can tell how much he enjoys his CrazySide when he talks about the lot being full with families meeting up to eat and kids running around. The CrazySide was such a success he started to look for a permanent home and quickly found it. Fat Hat Corner was renting the secondary building on the property. Kind of like the fortuitous nature of Maple Leaf Farm, Pirkey found the ad on the Upper Valley Listserv.

Now, Chef Brad’s CrazySide can stay open all year long. Even though he always swore he wouldn’t be a line cook beyond the age of 50, he is currently working up a creative menu and cooking it to order Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 2:30 pm. The menu changes nearly every day and is on Facebook at Chef Brads “Crazy Side” or visit chefbrads.com. There are always two soups with one vegetarian option, and a grilled cheese of the day alongside a seared salmon sandwich and smoked turkey with kimchi and swiss – just for some ideas on the rotating list. Pirkey is excited for the summer when the bus will be an ice cream parlor, and all eating will be outdoors except during inclement weather when the colorful building will be open for people to sit inside. For now, it doesn’t feel like winter when you go into CrazySide. The color, atmosphere, and menu are warm and bright – and it’s all coming from Pirkey himself. Make sure you welcome the local wanderer, and you’ll probably find yourself hoping that the CrazySide has found a home, and will stick around for a good while.

The Dismas House is a non-profit organization that was first brought to Vermont in the 1980s by Frank and Rita McCaffrey. The original Dismas House began in 1974 in Nashville, Tennessee, as a program developed by Father Jack Hickey and a group of Vanderbilt University students. The Dismas name comes from Hickey’s original inspiration–Catholic tradition Dismas is the name of the penitent, or good thief, crucified on Calvary alongside Jesus. Dismas, is the thief that Jesus saves. The Dismas House reunites criminal offenders with the community, and it has been so successful that the original program model can be found in various forms nationally and internationally.

In Vermont, the McCaffrey’s were known for their involvement in criminal justice reform. Frank McCaffrey was a lawyer and criminal court judge who has since retired, but when he and his wife, Rita, met Jack Hickey back in the 1980s they were determined to bring the Dismas program to the Green Mountain State. It was Rita who founded the Vermont Dismas, and the Hartford Dismas House, opened in March 2014, became the fourth Vermont location to open. The Hartford Dismas House supports 10 transitioning inmates at a time. Typical residents stay from 4 to 8 months while paying $75 a week, this enables the residents to find work and save money, and it also saves taxpayer money by keeping inmates from remaining in prison past their release dates due to lack of housing.

The Quechee communities’ involvement

Locally, the Quechee Club has helped support the Hartford Dismas House from it’s beginning by donating food for the house’s inception party in 2014. Most recently, the Club hosted a successful dinner. It was a special night on all accounts–the benefit awarded Dan Fraser of the Norwich store Dan & Whits with the Jack Hickey Award for Dan’s support of the Dismas House. The Dan & Whit’s store has employed multiple Dismas House residents finding it a mutually beneficial arrangement that will continue into the future. Suzanne Lyons, Penny McClure, and Christine McKenna were awarded the Jonathan Sylvia Volunteer of the Year Award for their consistent volunteer work. The award dinner raised more than $20,000 in donations to be put toward winter heating and care for the home.

Previous Jack Hickey Award recipient, and current democratic candidate for Vermont’s Attorney General, T.J Donovan emceed the event. The special guest speaker was Chris Herren, a former professional basketball player from Massachusetts who was first drafted into the NBA to play for the Denver Nuggets, and later traded to the Celtics. Herren realized a dream that became unfortunately derailed by an addiction. He co-authored the book Basketball Junkie with Bill Reynolds, detailing his journey. Herren brought the same story of addiction and recovery with him to the event on October 23.

Assistant House Director of the Hartford Dismas Debbie Diegoli tells me that the event exceeded attendance and donation expectations. While the donations amounted to more than ever expected Diegoli doesn’t seem surprised by Quechee’s generosity, only completely grateful. Quechee residents have been previous board members for the house, and she tells me that there are dedicated volunteers from Quechee community. The Dismas House was sad to see the Quechee Community Church close, as they had been non-stop supporters of the program as well.

Volunteer award winners

Previous to her current role with Dismas House, she was the outreach coordinator for several years. The overall resume Diegoli brought with her to The Dismas house speaks volumes for itself: she’s worked for the Lebanon Women’s Infants and Children (WIC) Program, Vital Communities, the Upper Valley Housing Coalition and Upper Valley Strong. Currently, she also serves as a member of the Upper Valley Food Co-op board of directors, and volunteers for the Weathersfield Energy Group.

Diegoli stresses the need for the relation between the Dismas House and the community. “We have relationships with all sorts of community organizations and businesses. Dismas’ mission is to reconcile prisoners with society and society with prisoners, so our connections with the community are essential.” The house is currently seeking board members and are in need of volunteers, especially cooks. More information can be found at http://www.dismasofvermont.org/hartford-dismas/.

Don’t forget to get your tickets to see Dark Star Orchestra to benefit the Rusty Berrings Skatepark in memory of Tyler Kirschner.

Dark Star Orchestra recreates set lists from some of the most legendary Grateful Dead shows in the Dead’s 30 years of touring. If you’ve ever wondered why the fans were/are so loyal to what the Dead was offering, you now have a chance to experience what it was like to be in an intimate venue, with a couple thousand of your now closest friends (because that’s what seems to happen), and just let the music carry the evening. When the seven members of DSO play, they remind us that the music never stopped and it definitely isn’t stopping any time soon.

“Quite possibly the most talented and accomplished tribute band out there…they’ve definitely mastered their inspiration’s vagabond nature.”

-Rolling Stone 

Help keep the Rusty Berrings Skatepark, located at the Riverside Community Park in Lebanon, a permanent and free recreational venue for the entire Upper Valley!

www.gofundme.com/lebanonnhskatepark